One type of carrier commonly used to package beverage cans is formed from a generally rectangular paperboard blank which is folded and glued by the blank manufacturer into a sleeve-like configuration. The blanks are then shipped to bottling plants in generally flat collapsed condition where they are opened into sleeve form, loaded through their open ends with cans, and closed by folding and sealing the end flaps in place. The resulting package completely encloses the cans and can be lifted by a handle portion provided in the top panel.
A well known style of handle for this type of carrier comprises two hand openings in the top panel extending along the length of the package. The openings are located in the central part of the package and are spaced from each other to form a strap or handle portion between them. This arrangement has certain disadvantage. The high concentration of stresses at the handle openings requires the use of relatively heavy paperboard to combat tearing, which increases the cost of the package. Further, such a handle, often referred to as a suitcase type of handle, requires the thumb and fingers of the hand to hold the carrier in a manner that becomes tiring and tends to cut into the hand.
To overcome these problems a single handle opening extending transversely of the folds connecting the side panels of the carrier to the top panel has been proposed. The handle opening would thus be at right angles to the direction in which the openings of the suitcase type of handle extend. To carry the package, a user merely has to insert his fingers into the opening and lift it.
Even with a handle arrangement of this type, however, unless the design incorporates features for relieving the lifting stresses the paperboard will still have to be relatively thick and expensive. An example of a design which attempts to solve this problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,816, issued to P. J. Wood. In this arrangement a transverse slit extends down into the upper regions of the side panels and connects with fold lines to aid in the distribution of lifting stresses. The stresses still tend to be concentrated more than desired, however, adjacent the ends of the transverse slit, creating the need to follow relatively rigid design parameters and causing the top panel to be pulled up by the lifting process higher and more abruptly than desired.
It would be desirable to provide a carrier having a transverse handle design which would enable a reduction in the caliper of the paperboard without introducing an undesirable degree of flexibility in the carrier handle structure.